EUROPEAN STAYCATION: "OUCH"

We have been told since we got here: "Don't wait to start doing stuff. Start now. Three years will go by faster than you think."

And so we listened.

Joel and Maria picked us up at 1:30 AM last Friday for our first German skiing/snowboarding adventure in Garmisch (we figure if we confuse our bodies enough, they will eventually catch up). When we arrived, the sight of snow and mountains made us feel like we were back in Colorado. Then we stepped out into the cold and were immediately brought back to reality. IT WAS COLD. And not the "scarf and down jacket will do" type of cold. The type of cold that requires several thermal layers, heat packs in your gloves and constant movement.

Clint and I learned several things early on that day. Germans don't really care about personal space, they don't really care about lines and my patience for learning how to snowboard is basically nonexistent. My snowboarding skills never really improved during the day and I definitely spent more time on my arse than anything else. To be perfectly honest, I am still recovering. Clint did pretty dang good for only having a few past snowboarding experiences and lasted much longer than I did. We eventually made it to a snack bar (sigh of relief) where I got my new favorite drink/milk combo called a Milchkaffee and Clint got a good ol' fashioned German beer. I quit after we hit this milestone, but Clint pushed on for another 2-3 hours.

The next day we decided to go to a place called Zugspitze, the highest mountain in Germany! This place was amazing. It literally looked like we stepped into a skiing wonderland. They had typical "ski runs", but you could basically ski and snowboard wherever there was snow (and of course there was snow as far as the eye could see). The most notable, exciting and terrifying event happened after Clint and I got wind that they had an “above average” sledding slope. I should mention that neither of us could physically get on another snowboard this time around due to our aches and pains from the day before so this discovery was pretty awesome. This sledding slope was no joke. It ran parallel to a red ski run and once you decided to start that sled down hill, there was no turning back. We estimate hitting speeds of around 40 mph, and definitely acquired a few bruises and snow burns along the way. I wish I had pictures to prove it, but I think the camera would have gotten broken along the way. Believe me though, it was intense and it was a blast!

We are currently on a no-joke hunt for two awesome vehicles, and I have a feeling a blog post for that will be coming soon! :)

Here are a few pictures from Zugspitze!